Press release 16 April 2009

CORTINA (ITA) HOSTS THE SECOND EDITION OF THE

WORLD MIXED DOUBLES CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP

-2009 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship to kick off on Saturday 18 April.

-Eight days of great sport in Cortina’s Olympic Stadium. 27 nations in competition.

-A fantastic “test event” before the Cortina 2010 World Men’s Championship.

-Opening ceremony presented by the Italian Navy along with 100 school students.

Next week will be a long and tough week for the world’s best curlers, who will gather up in Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy) for the 2009 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. From April 18-25 on the rinks of Cortina’s Olympic Ice Stadium 27 national mixed doubles teams will face each other to win the 2009 mixed doubles title.

The opening ceremony will take place on Saturday 18 April and will be presented by the Italian Navy (Marina Militare) together with a group of 100 children from the local schools, who will present the teams with a beautiful choreography.

The Curling Mixed Doubles as a separate discipline was introduced in 2007, after the big success enjoyed in the wake of the Turin Olympics. This is the second edition of the world championship.

The absolute favourite team is without any doubt the Swiss squad Toni Muller-Irene Schori, who took the gold medal in 2008 World Championship in Vierumaki (Finland). However they will have to fight off strong competition from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, South Korea Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States and Wales.

The week’s schedule looks intense with qualifying games Round Robin style taking place Sunday to Wednesday between 8am to 9pm, and Thursday between 8am to 2:30pm. The semi-finals will take place on Friday. Finals and closing ceremony on Saturday.

The 2009 Cortina World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, a “test event” in view of the 2010 Cortina World Men’s Curling Championship, is an unmissable event for curlers and all the fans of this growing sport.

Info: www.curlingcortina.dolomiti.org

For tourist information:

UFFICIO COMUNICAZIONE CORTINA TURISMO tel. + 39 0436/866252
Chiara Caliceti – c.caliceti@dolomiti.org – +39 334/6933176

Eleonora Alverà – e.alvera@dolomiti.org

Ufficio stampa: Omnia Relations tel. + 39 051/5873602_5870818 - www.omniarelations.com

Cristina Palmiotto – press1.cortina@dolomiti.org – +39 347/9793701

Luciana Caramia – press2.cortina@dolomiti.org – Lucia Portesi – press3.cortina@dolomiti.org